NETWORK CHIP DESIGNER Qualcomm Atheros has announced that its Killer Wireless network card will make its debut in Alienware laptops.

Qualcomm Atheros, a division of system-on-chip vendor Qualcomm, said its Killer Wireless-N 1202 module will be bunged into Alienware laptops. The firm said the module, which incorporates 2x2 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth support, will improve network performance in games due to traffic prioritisation.

Mike Cubbage, director of business development for Qualcomm Atheros' networking business unit said, "Alienware continues to be the leader in performance laptops and we appreciate that its customers are used to getting the best gaming experience possible. The Killer Wireless-N 1202 will continue the tradition of delivering a superior gaming and real-time communication experience for Alienware laptop users by providing the best in online application performance, intelligence and control to ensure that critical online applications get the bandwidth and priority they need, when they need it."

Alienware has offered previous generation Killer Wireless-N upgrades on some of its laptops. While Qualcomm Atheros' decision to offer a way of deploying QoS controls on a network card isn't particularly new, it is handy for gamers who want to limit the effect of background applications on latency. µ